Outcast
by Sarcasticles
Summary: It's difficult to imagine that a reclusive princess, her ungainly sister, and a wanted criminal could have much in common. But when Anna comes across a strange girl in the forest, it sets off a chain of events that challenges every assumption they have about themselves and each other. Will it be enough to heal their wounded hearts, or are the differences too much to overcome?
1. Three Lonely Girls

_Knock, knock, knock._

No answer. For the gazillionth time in a row the door was shut. Anna didn't know how many times a gazillion was, but it had to be a lot. It hurt when her sister wouldn't open up. It had never been like this before, and Anna didn't understand why it was now. But she refused to give up. She would try and try forever until she finally got a response.

"Elsa, do you want to go outside?"

Silence.

With a heavy sigh, Anna turned away. Maybe tomorrow her sister would want to play. Until then she would have to go out by herself.

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock._

Elsa went completely still, not daring to look up from her mathematics book. Today had been a good day so far; quiet, without any accidents. The warm weather helped a little, but there was still a risk, and any risk was too much of a risk when it came to the safety of her sister.

"Elsa, do you want to go outside?"

Even though Anna's voice was muffled by the door it was impossible to miss her pleading tone. It cut Elsa right to the core, and a thin layer of frost spread across her desk.

_Conceal don't feel, conceal don't feel, conceal…_

The frost's advance slowed, and for a moment Elsa thought she had succeeded. Then she watched in horror as it changed texture and color, transforming into _ice_.

A sigh could be heard from behind the door, as could Anna's footfalls as she stomped away.

Elsa pushed back from her desk and brought her hands in close to her chest. There would be water damage to her book, maybe the furniture as well. She still wasn't good enough. There was no way she could go with Anna when her control was this poor.

Blinking back tears, Elsa let her hands fall to her lap, her shoulders slumped forward. It was beginning to feel like she would never be able to play with her sister again.

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock._

Nothing. The little cabin in the woods looked to be abandoned. Just to be safe, Robin closed her eyes and called on her power. Duplicates sprouted within the ramshackle building, flooding her mind's eye with half a dozen different views.

There was a hole in the floor where an animal probably denned, but no people. A small burst of relief spread through Robin. She was tired and hungry, and above all else lost. This would be a good place to recover.

Robin entered the cabin and curled up in the comfiest spot she could find for a nap. Every time she took a breath a sharp pain exploded through her side—a cracked rib, if she had to guess—and her dress was still wet from her bath in a nearby stream. Still, it didn't take long until she was dead to the world, unaware that while her hiding place was abandoned, it was hardly _unvisited. _

And as Robin slept, a young princess rushed out of her castle, ready to beat back the loneliness of her heart with a well-earned adventure in the forest.


	2. Hide and Seek

Arendelle was beautiful in the summer. The sun shone bright and clear. Birds chirped and squirrels chattered amongst themselves. The forest was green, the sky blue, and the temptation to make mischief unresistible.

If only she had someone to make mischief with.

"It is I, Princess Anna of Arendelle! Who is that, you ask? What a silly question. I am the bravest, wisest, gracefulest…" Anna stumbled on a rock and fell down. She popped up, glancing around to make sure no one saw, and waved a stick (a beautiful scepter in her mind's eye) to her imaginary audience.

"…_Gracefulest_ princess in all the land!"

She paused, tilting her head. "What's that? Someone's in trouble by the palace? I shall go save the day!"

Anna dashed through the woods, not caring when bramble bushes snagged on her dress or if she got twigs stuck in her hair. If Elsa were here she would have called for her to slow down, but Elsa was being a stupid-head and shutting herself in her room.

One crossed brook and two scrapped knees later, Anna's Palace came into view. The little cabin was in disrepair, but Anna thought that it gave it "character". It was a place of Mystery and Intrigue, and was the center of Anna's kingdom.

So what if her only subjects were the woodland creatures? There were plenty of exciting and dramatic goings-on to make up for the lack of human contact. Here no one laughed at her clumsiness or compared her to her sister. Anna was in complete control. This was the _only_ place she felt like she had any control.

Pulling up to a stop, Anna stood as straight as she could and contemplated what game she should play her options. Rescue the Prince was always a possibility, as was Tea Party with all the foreign ambassadors. Tag wasn't very fun by one's self, nor was hide and seek.

Anna was making a face at the thought of playing tag alone when she thought she saw a shadow through the window of her palace. Curious, she made her way to the door. Sometimes she saw a fox or a badger, but those weren't big enough to be seen through the window. Had a deer gone inside, or maybe a bear? Anna had seen a bear once at a circus and thought it was cute.

She crept up as sneakily as she knew how, trying not to spook whatever was inside. She was almost there when the door burst open and a figure ran out into the woods. It wasn't a deer, and it certainly wasn't a bear. Anna yelped and took a step back in surprise as a girl blew past without having the decency to say hello. A person was in her palace! An actual person! It happened so quickly Anna didn't get a good look at the girl, except she was wearing a purple-ish dress and had dark hair.

"Hey, wait!" Anna cried.

Silence. Whoever it was had even startled the birds into being quiet.

No, not this time. It was one thing for Elsa to ignore her, it was another for someone to use _her _palace without permission and then run away without even making introductions.

Anna ran after the mysterious person, having decided upon a game. If the person wanted to play hide and seek, then hide and seek it was.

* * *

All Robin wanted was one day where she didn't have to run for her life. Was that too much to ask for?

At least it wasn't the marines this time. Or a mob. Or pirates. Actually, compared to normal, having to run from a little girl wasn't too bad. It was annoying that she had lost her cabin, but it was summer and the weather was nice. She could sleep outside if she needed to.

However her pursuer was unusually persistent, and had the advantage of knowing the forest. Robin ran and ran, but she was exhausted and weak. She thought about using her power, before pushing that back as a last resort. Her power called attention to herself, which was the last thing Robin wanted in this situation.

Robin couldn't even concentrate on using her ability and running at the same time, relying on her natural senses to lose the girl. The farther she went the closer the trees grew together and the thicker the underbrush became, sticks and thorns grabbing at her clothes and hair, slowing her down.

"Hold up!" a high-pitched voice called. It sounded closer this time. Robin's breath hitched as she slid to a stop, just in time to avoid dropping into a shallow ravine.

She looked behind her to see the other girl stop some twenty feet away. The girl doubled over to catch her breath, a wide smile on her face. Robin felt her stomach drop.

"Finally…caught you!" the girl panted. Robin didn't answer and looked for a way out. The only way to go was down. Purposefully falling down a ravine ranked only slightly higher than using her Devil Fruit on her list of potential escape plans.

"My name's…Anna," she continued. "Pleased to meet you."

The girl, Anna, paused, waiting for Robin to say something. When she didn't, the girl's smile faltered and she looked down at her dress. "I'm a mess, aren't I? It was fun, though, running like that. Why didn't you stop? Didn't you hear me call?"

Robin swallowed. The girl seemed harmless enough. Red-blonde hair was falling out of twin braids, and her expensive-looking green dress was in dirty disarray after her flight through the forest. Her eyes made Robin nervous, though. They were too excited, too interested for her own good. Most children would not have chased for so long, but this girl had. That alone made her dangerous.

"Maybe you didn't. I thought you might be a bear at first. I'd run too if I thought I was being chased by a bear, even though they are cute."

Robin frowned at the rapid change of thought.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I got carried away. You're awful quiet. Can't you talk?"

What could she say that would make the girl lose interest and go away? Or maybe the girl could tell her where she was? Clenching her hands, Robin looked at the ground, unsure of what to do.

"You can't!" Anna said after a moment, putting a hand to her mouth in shock. Sometime during her rambling she had come closer to Robin, forcing her to take another half-step backwards. "I'm so sorry! I've been blabbing on this whole time, and you can't even talk! Do you…do you have a name? I mean, of course you have a name, but can you write it for me?"

Anna was within five feet of Robin now, which was much too close. Every instinct was shouting at her to run. When the girl lifted her foot to take a step, Robin acted without thinking. She called up a duplicate arm from the ground to grab her ankle, making a pulling motion with her real arm that the phantom copied. Anna dropped to one knee, and Robin bolted, making sure to release her power before Anna could see what had tripped her. This time, despite her cramping legs and burning lungs, she made sure she was not caught.

* * *

It was late before Elsa heard her sister knock again. It surprised her a little; Elsa didn't think Anna would be let out of her room. Then again, Anna always told her about her day before going to bed, no matter what. It was the one time of day Elsa was guaranteed to smile. Her sister told entertaining stories.

Apparently today Anna had come back from the woods—which were forbidden to her anyway—dirty and hurt. Hearing about it was enough to make Elsa's chest tighten with anxiety. Today it had been a game that had gotten out of control, but what other trouble would Anna's carelessness get her into? It had always been Elsa's job to watch over her, but now…

Now that was impossible.

"I met someone new today," Anna said, voice practically bouncing with glee despite being grounded. "We played tag. I think you'd like her. She doesn't talk either."

Elsa sat with her back to the door, not thinking much about the "new friend". Anna always imagining things and playing games. What really mattered was that she had returned safely.

"…I drew a picture! I'll show it to you!" Elsa moved her hand as a piece of paper pushed against it. She smiled as she opened it up. It showed two figures surrounded by trees. One was labeled Anna—as if Elsa needed the hint—while the other had a big question mark over her head.

Elsa's smile faded. Anna's imaginary friends always had blonde hair and blue eyes. The unknown girl's hair was black and her eyes brown. Anna had given her a plain purple dress, a garment that neither of them owned.

Was her sister's imagination shifting, finally replacing Elsa with someone else after being rejected so long? Or was the girl in the forest real and Anna was running after strangers?

Elsa shoved the paper back under the door before her power could ruin it, unable to decide which option was worse.


	3. Stilling the Storm

Robin was still lost.

After the disastrous run-in with the girl in the woods, Robin decided that perhaps the city was a safer place to hide. She had stolen some clothing in the local style, tied her hair in a braid, and tried to stay out of sight. It worked. Wearing a simple blouse with matching skirt and a pair of sturdy black boots, Robin didn't look much different than the people in this unknown land. Her plan was perfectly simple: find a map, board a ship, and get back on track with her dream.

Except this place, this _Arendelle_, was a kingdom not of her world.

The map was all wrong. Huge tracts of land replaced what should be open seas. Places like _Corona_ and _The Southern Isles_ took the spot of the more familiar Alabasta and Mariejois. The Four Blues were nonexistent, the Calm Belt was conspicuously absent, and the Red Line simply not there at all. She had discovered this all two weeks ago, and since then the differences only became more pronounced.

Robin ducked down the secluded alleyway that she claimed as her own, a stolen apple in her pocket and an equally stolen newspaper tucked under one arm. She crouched down behind a crate and began scourging the paper. A phantom arm flipped open her journal (_also _stolen) and began taking notes with a charcoal pencil.

There were no stories of international criminals. In fact, since awakening in the forest, Robin could count on one hand the number of times she had heard pirates mentioned. All the bounties posted were of local bandits, and the local currency was speciedaler instead of bellies.

There was no World Government. No marines. No Warlords. Robin read no statistics on sea king attacks, heard no speculation on Devil Fruits, and saw nothing that reminded her of home.

Where in the world was she? On _what _world was she? Robin took a bite of her apple and scanned her notes so far.

"_Outcast_," she muttered to herself, refusing to think too deeply into the ramifications of that word. But the fact remained that she was in unfamiliar territory—potentially out of her own _universe_—and had no idea how to get back.

* * *

In the two weeks after being grounded, Anna explored every inch of the castle more than once, rode her bicycle around the ballroom until Gerda made her stop, and invented stories for every single portrait that hung on the walls. She spent time with her parents, dove into her lessons with great enthusiasm, and occasionally slept. The punishment, much to Anna's surprise, wasn't all that bad.

At first.

Eventually she ran out of things to do. There were only so many conversations one could have with Joan. Being bored was one of the worst feelings in the world, and these days it felt like boredom was seeping into every minute of every day.

On top of it all, Elsa was starting to give her strange looks. Dinner was the one time the family came together. Usually Elsa kept her eyes glued to her plate and ignored Anna's attempts at getting her to join the conversation, excusing herself from the table as soon as it was polite. The past few days had been different. More than once Anna caught Elsa _staring. _As soon as Anna would try and make eye contact, her sister would make a face and go back to eating, cheeks pink with embarrassment. Such behavior was so very _un_Elsa-like it made Anna squirm in her seat. Their father noticed, and would look at them both with concern, which made their mother look at _him _with concern. Dinner became the uncomfortable hour where everyone would give everyone else weird looks without ever saying what was bothering them.

Enough was enough. Anna couldn't stand this level of strangeness, not when she was locked up with no way to escape. Until now she had been content with politely asking her sister to open up, accepting the silence with a resigned hurt and the hope that tomorrow would be different. Not anymore. No more Little Miss Nice Princess. It was time to roll up her sleeves and demand answers.

Half an hour before her bedtime Anna made the long walk down the hall to her sister's room. The white-painted door was the only thing that stood between them. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching and raised her hand to knock.

_What makes you think tonight will be any different?_ A nasty voice in her head asked. Anna faltered, her knuckles just inches from the door. _She's not going to answer. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. _

_I've got to try_, Anna thought. _No one else will, so I've got to. She's my sister._

That made the nasty voice shut up, and after taking a few moments to gather every bit of courage she had, Anna knocked on the door.

"Elsa, open up! I'm not leaving 'till you do!"

* * *

These days the gloves didn't leave Elsa's hands. They were the only thing that kept her power in check, the only thing that made sure those around her were safe.

Her power was changing. Elsa didn't think _more powerful_ was the right words to describe what she felt inside, but something was definitely different. It was more spastic, less controllable. It raged against her carefully crafted defenses like a trapped animal, relentlessly searching for a way out. If Elsa was not in perfect control always there was no doubt it _would _find a way out, about that there was no question.

It hadn't always been this way. Before accidentally hurting Anna, the cold inside had been perfectly calm, like the hush after the first snow of the year. Elsa would give anything to have that feeling back, but every time she tried it seemed just out of reach. In fact, since Anna's return to the forest things were worse than ever.

Elsa wanted desperately to ask her sister more about the girl in her drawing, but couldn't trust herself to do so. The stark realization that Anna was growing up and changing without her hit Elsa like a ton of bricks. It was her duty as the older sister to be there for Anna, but she couldn't, no matter how badly she wanted to.

It made Elsa feel ashamed and lonely and a failure all at the same time, and the ugly feelings beat down on the wall that held back her power, weakening its already-shaky foundations.

Elsa was losing the battle to hold back the storm inside. She wondered what terrible things she would do once it was let loose.

_KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK_

"Elsa, open up! I'm not leaving 'till you do!"

She couldn't handle this tonight. Elsa backed up against a wall and slid to the ground, covering her ears with her hands, trying to block all the noise out so she could concentrate on keeping everything else in.

"Please, Elsa? I know you want to say something. Just open the door."

"Go away, Anna," Elsa cried, a note of desperation in her voice.

"No! I wanna know why you won't talk to me."

"Please," Elsa whispered so quietly she wasn't sure Anna heard. "Just…go away."

For a moment there was no answer, and Elsa thought her sister had left. Instead of feeling relief, her power roared, an icy, bitter cold so strong it _hurt _to keep it contained.

She didn't hear the door handle turn or notice when it opened just enough for one small girl to slip through. She didn't see Anna's shocked face at the sight of her sister hiding in the corner. In her misery, Elsa only knew the ugliness she felt inside.

"Elsa," a small voice said, "what's wrong?"

Elsa jerked up in horror. Anna was here. In her _room. _The one place their father had explicitly forbidden she go. She tried to back away as her sister took a hesitant step forward, but there was no place to run.

"You can't be here, Anna! G-go away!"

But Anna didn't leave, not even as a layer of ice spread across the floor and crept up the wall. Elsa was anchored in place, too terrified to move lest she lose control completely. As her sister approached, she squeezed her eyes closed and turned her head away.

Warm fingers brushed across her cheek, melting the tears that had frozen there.

"Elsa, why are you crying?"

Her sister's voice was soft and innocent, without a hint of revulsion or accusation, and Elsa had no answer.

Anna made a distressed noise. "Don't be sad! I don't like it when you're sad!"

Then Anna did something truly remarkable and hugged her sister. It was the first human contact in as long as Elsa could remember, and her world went quiet, just like the hush after the first snow.


	4. Past and Present

AN: Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I've had this done for awhile, but my Internet access has been limited. Also, I've revised the previous chapters so they read much better now, and tweaked some things plot wise. It's nothing major, but I've kind of changed the direction the story's going. As always, thanks for reading.

* * *

Agdar felt uneasy. Instinct honed by years as a father and a king told him something wasn't right. He tried to push his unease away, but it continued to circle back again and again, nagging worse than a fishmonger's wife.

He was up to date on all matters of State. The ink continued to dry on the new trade agreement between Arendelle and Weselton, a venture that was to be beneficial to both kingdoms. There was nothing at all that demanded his immediate attention.

Yet was something he had forgotten. There had to be. Nothing else could explain how tense he felt.

"Have you spoken to Anna yet?" Idun asked, putting one comforting hand to his shoulder.

"No," Agdar said heavily, unable to meet his wife's expectant gaze. "I was waiting for her to go back to her room. You know how she always likes to say goodnight."

Perhaps it was wrong to let his daughter get away with sneaking out of her room after bedtime, but Agdar didn't have it in him to deny her. It wasn't just for Anna, he rationalized, but for Elsa as well. He knew how his eldest clung to those nightly visits, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

"Agdar, she went down an hour ago. Surely she's finished by now."

The king jerked his head up towards the staircase, heart beating frantically as he realized what had been bothering him. He had heard Anna's footsteps as she made her nightly trek to Elsa's door, but had not heard her go _back_.

He took the stairs three at a time, barely hearing his wife's calls for him to stop. Maybe it was nothing, but after that night (that horrible night) he wasn't going to take any chances.

Elsa's door hung open, and the cry on Agdar lips died as his throat constricted with fear. The temperature in the air dropped to a crisp coolness as he entered Elsa's room, her domain. The one place she was allowed to be herself without being a danger to others.

Only tonight she wasn't alone. Ice clung to the walls, twisted in sinister patterns of clear blue and white. Frost covered the floor. He gasped and could see his breath

Elsa looked utterly confused (_but not unhappy_, some distant part of his mind noted), sitting with her back against the wall and Anna by her side. His youngest, to Agdar's immediate relief, was not harmed in any obvious way. Anna leaned against her sister, reminiscent of…_before_, when there had been no white in her hair and Elsa smiled freely.

Agdar felt rather than saw his wife come up behind him, barely registered the small, "Oh!" she breathed.

Anna looked up at them and smiled enormously, while Elsa hugged herself in guilt and shame. The ice crept a few inches father, but slowed to a stop when Anna gave her an awkward one-sided hug.

"Hey, Papa, guess what! Elsa's got _magic!_"

The king looked at his wife helplessly. All they had worked for, the sacrifice, was gone. Anna _knew_, and if the state of this room was any indication, Elsa had yet to learn how to control her power.

What in the world was he supposed to do now?

* * *

_Robin dove to the ground as bullets whistled through the air. Somewhere a man screamed out in agony, only for that scream to cut off abruptly as he met his end from the advancing marines. Robin ignored it, crawling through the mud towards safety. This crew was finished, and if she couldn't make it to the tree line she was just as dead. _

_The massacre continued, and confused pirates fell in droves. They had been tricked. There was no other explanation for the sudden, devastating ambush. _

"_Fire in the hole!" _

_Robin scrambled to her feet and broke into a dead sprint, ducking her head as low as possible to avoid exposure. To her left a cannon exploded, close enough to throw her to the ground. When she put her hands to her ears to make the ringing stop, she felt blood. _

I'm not going to die here_, Robin thought, forcing herself to her knees with a groan. _I can't die here.

_A sharp pain exploded through her side as someone kicked her in the ribs. Instinctively Robin activated her power, but her concentration broke when a foot slammed between her shoulder blades and pinned her down. It became difficult to breathe as mud went up her nose, and panic began to overtake her rational mind. _

_Arms sprouted from every direction, most of them ineffective as Robin was unable to identify her attacker. A surprised voice swore, and she concentrated the phantom appendages in that direction. She managed to knock that marine over before the boot heel digging into her back made her cry out in pain. _

"_You're surrounded, Demon. For every one of us you defeat there are three more ready to take his place," a voice sounded over the chaos of the battlefield. "Surrender."_

_Robin turned her head and glared hatefully. Again she called upon her Devil Fruit, sprouting two arms that hit the back of his knees, making them buckle. That was enough to allow her to squirm away and get back on her feet, real arm holding the side that felt like it was on fire. _

_It wasn't enough for her to get to the forest._

_A hand grabbed Robin around the back of her neck and spun her around. She was brought face to face with a tall marine, dirt and grime miring the white suit that marked him as a captain rank or higher. He snarled at her and threw her back to the ground. Robin was given no time to react as he pounced on her, holding her neck with one hand while bringing the other over her face. An electric hum filled the air as his hand began to glow orange-red, blinding her to her surroundings. _

Devil Fruit_, Robin thought dully. _

"_I'm going to make sure you never hurt anyone again!"_

I can't die here.

"_Outcast!"_

Robin jerked awake, rolling out of the nest of rags she was used for a bed. Cold sweat covered her body, and the slight breeze was enough to make her shiver. She wiped her face with shaking hands, surprised to find her eyes were wet with tears.

The memory played in her head again and again, haunting even her dreams. There was the tall marine in the dirty suit, the tugging sensation as his Devil Fruit banished her to this unknown land, waking up in a forest that _looked _oh-so-familiar, but was in reality different than anything she knew. Being lost and confused, not _knowing…_

Huddling in on herself, Robin pushed back the memories. She hated not knowing, but didn't trust herself to think about it. If she did, the _other _nightmares would return, the ones that featured her mother and Saul and what the Government had done to her home.

Historians were supposed to remember the past, but Robin had not reached the point where she could remember without obsessing. It clouded her judgment, making her prone to making poor decisions. And now with the stakes as high as they were Robin could afford no mistakes.

The local gossip and papers did her no good. No map was going to get her back to the West Blue, and the dream her loved ones had died for depended on her getting back. Robin refused to believe she could be permanently stuck in Arendelle. Just because she didn't _know _the way didn't mean one didn't exist. She just needed more information.

A pang of longing ached in her heart when she remembered the Tree of Knowledge and all the books it held. She could have found an answer there, Robin was sure of it.

Robin set her head on her arms and squinted out into the gloomy darkness. Books. She needed _books. _Not the whitewashed, superficial volumes that would be readily available for sale, but the secret histories and texts that told the past as it really was. She hadn't seen any universities or libraries during her exploration through the city which—barring private collections she had no way of finding—left one place that _might _have what she was looking for.

It was risky, but Robin thought she might be able to pull it off. There were no Devil Fruits here, giving her the advantage. All that was left was to finish scouting, something she guessed would take only a few more days.

A few more days until she had the intelligence she needed. Maybe, with luck, she would be back to looking for poneglyphs within the week.

The memory of what awaited her came to her mind unbidden. Again Robin shivered, before hiding her face in her arms. So far no one in this world had treated her like a criminal. Some had even gone so far as to offer some small kindness or other when they saw she roamed the city without any apparent supervision. It was…nice. But Robin continually reminded herself that it was all a façade. Fake. _Not real_. No matter how nice people pretended to be, she did not belong here. She could wish her real life was half as pleasant, but that didn't change the fact unless she went back her goals would be forever out of reach.

Eventually Robin fell back into a restless sleep, half-formed plans swirling through her mind and the ghosts of her past haunting her every thought.


	5. Uncertain Futures

Agdar was beside himself. The king, usually so sure, was now at a loss. For days he wandered around the castle in a stupor, ignoring family and servants alike as he tried to come to terms with the fact Anna now knew her older sister had magic.

Enough was enough. Idun laid down her embroidery as her husband entered their bedroom and watched him pace with a critical eye. Lank, unwashed hair fell over his forehead. His face was wan, lips pursed together into a nearly invisible line and his brow was knit together in worry. It looked as if he had slept in his clothes, although Idun knew he hadn't laid down long enough for a proper sleep since Anna had snuck into Elsa's room.

"I was beginning to think I should send out a search party."

Agdar's head snapped to attention, and Idun wondered if he had even noticed her presence. "What? For whom?"

"The king. Rumor has it he hasn't been seen for a week. I hear even the queen doesn't know where he's gone." Idun gestured to the chair beside hers. "Please, sit for a while."

He hesitated for a moment, before slumping his shoulders in defeat.

"What am I supposed to do now? Go back to the trolls?" he asked as he sat, running his fingers through his hair. It was a nervous habit that Idun had only seen a few times before in moments of great stress, and more than anything else betrayed how at war he was with himself.

Agdar was a good king. He would often agonize over decisions, weighing all the possible outcomes before making a choice. Once the choice was made, however, he stood firm and saw it through to the end. He listened to council, but was not one to waver. Idun often joked that Anna had gotten her stubbornness from his side of the family.

But the firm tenacity that made him a good king often translated to inflexibility as a father, something she could no longer ignore.

"Husband, dear, you will do no such thing," Idun said calmly as she returned to her needlework.

"But…Anna…"

"This is not just about Anna!" Agdar recoiled at her tone. Pausing to take a deep breath, Idun continued, "Agdar, Elsa turned twelve this year."

"Yes, and…?"

"Your daughter is growing up. She is changing; her _body _is changing. Do you understand how frightening that is for a girl?"

The baffled look he gave her confirmed that he did not.

"Any girl is going to feel isolated and confused, powers or no. In some ways she is expected to act like an adult, while still feeling like a child. She's not going to be comfortable talking to us anymore. There will be new pressures and responsibilities, feelings she doesn't understand—"

"All the more reason to keep them separated!" Agdar interrupted. "If she can't keep her power under control now, how can we expect her to keep it under control as she goes through puberty?"

"Elsa had her best control when she was allowed to see Anna. We've been trying things your way for years now, and with no results. Don't you think it's time to stop?"

"Don't you dare blame this on me!" Agdar snapped. "I did what I thought was best for both of them!"

"Yes, I know! But don't you see? This separation is destroying her. It's destroying them both." Idun rubbed her eyes as her vision blurred with tears. "Anna's so lonely she's chasing shadows through the woods. Elsa can't leave her room without feeling afraid. And to what end? Elsa has no more control then she did four years ago. Less, if the constant need to refurbish her room is any indication."

"I…but," Agdar croaked. "What if Anna gets hurt again? What if she strikes her heart?"

The question hung heavily, and Idun had no answer. She reached over and grabbed her husband's hand, unable to look him in the eye.

"What if Elsa forgets what it feels like to be loved without reservation? What sort of queen would she become?" Idun squeezed his hand as Agdar let out a choked back a sob. "Did you see it? Anna hugged Elsa. When was the last time she let either one of us do the same?"

"I don't want them to get hurt."

"Neither do I, but—"

"Mom! Mom guess what!"

Idun jumped as Anna burst through the door without invitation. Wearing her bedtime clothes and stockings she was barely able to slide to a stop on the wood floor. After a wobbly moment she regained her balance and beamed up at her parents.

"Anna! Your father and I are having a private conversation."

Her smile didn't falter. "But Mom, you've gotta come quick! The girl from the forest is here! We found her in the library, and Elsa used her magic to keep her from running away again."

Idun and Agdar shared twin looks of horror and ran to the library, outpacing Anna in their rush. They didn't think about how someone had managed to enter the castle unnoticed. Only one thing mattered: Their daughter had once again used magic against a person. They could only pray that despite all evidence to the contrary, Elsa's control had improved from that disastrous accident four years ago.


End file.
